The agreement, they said, doesn't do enough to ensure flows for fish runs while guaranteeing water deliveries to farms that rely on irrigation water diverted from the river.

"We understand and sympathize with the plight of upriver farmers, who need water for their
crops," said Greg King, the NEC's Klamath campaign coordinator. "The farmers require
water to avoid dry fields. But the salmon need that same water to avoid extinction."

The settlement was crafted over three years by a coalition of 26 groups representing government, farming, fishing, tribal and conservation interests. It was released in draft form last year, hailed as a way to end long-running disputes over water and resources in the basin that straddles the Oregon and California border.

But it would require enough political support to wring nearly $1 billion in funding from Congress to move forward, so any dissolution of the negotiation group threatens its success.